tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8094777761343480735.post3420593602876924119..comments2023-10-16T05:56:33.473-07:00Comments on Lars Gustafsson's Blog: An Objection concerning StuttgartLars Gustafssonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18312918813422939688noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8094777761343480735.post-82477658008618746342011-01-02T03:32:55.379-08:002011-01-02T03:32:55.379-08:00"citizen of this town reveals in my opinion a..."citizen of this town reveals in my opinion a little more about the considerable loss<br />of confidence in our leading classes."<br /><br />And what of the lost confidence in the ruled classes? *Bildung* and many other social institutions that provide the grounds of societal understanding (as well the ennoblement of citizens) have recently been eroded to the extent that large segments of the population are both uninformed and ignorant of political institutions.<br /><br />The Internet has given us the opportunity to inform ourselves more freely and more readily than previously, yet very few people I encounter actually use the Internet for these purposes. Additionally, as far as source-plurality goes, the Internet, in my opinion, is only slightly better than television, and information in itself is not equivalent to education and intelligent thinking.<br /><br />"So, the real challenge for democracy is, to reestablish credibility in broadcasting"<br /><br />Great, now that we know "the real challenge" is...<br /><br />"Representative democracy depends on integrity of the representatives."<br /><br />Yes, but once again, representative democracy also depends on the integrity of the voters, those who choose the representatives. When this integrity is damaged it is natural that the representatives take liberties they should not.<br /><br />Furthermore, I think it is utterly questionable whether "direct democracy" works in Switzerland. They generally have low voter turn-outs and are pathologically resistant to socially progressive legislation. So, define "performing astonishing [SIC] well."<br /><br />We "the people" (in most Western democracies) are the social institutions and in a sense, still today, the source of power. As such restoring the credibility of the government requires restoring the credibility of society, parenting, educational institutions, etc. <br /><br />I find the system of direct democracy to be an exceptionally moronic proposal to solve our problems considering our social problems and considering how complicated our societies are compared to medieval Switzerland and 18th Century USA. Furthermore the very idea presupposes that the amount of citizens that creates a referendum and then gets a majority vote for said referendum are rational and well-educated about the issues at hand. Then we see also that the Swiss dogmatically grip onto their direct democratic system as it it were some self-evident perfection of politics, which in turn has traditionally disenfranchized certain segments of the population (women, immigrants). As we see with the minaret and Muslim issues there, the direct democracy can be even more easily overtaken by demagoguery and extremist propaganda than with representative democracy. On top of this we see half of the Swiss didn't even bother voting, which is curious considering that the matter concerned the basic rights and liberties of hundreds of thousands of people in the country.<br /><br />"what will result from a system which seems to make historically given forms obsolete ?"<br /><br />Lars, I began writing a reply to this, but upon second, third and fourth thought: is your question even intelligible?Notes from the Northhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11198523688583880045noreply@blogger.com